Italy's daily coronavirus death toll and new cases fall

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People gather in Virgiliano Park, as the country begins a staged end to a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Naples, Italy, May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

MILAN (Reuters) - The daily death toll from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy fell to 145 on Sunday, the lowest since March 9, against 153 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases fell to a March-4 low of 675 from 875 on Saturday.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 31,908 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 225,435, the sixth highest global tally behind those of the United States, Spain, Britain, Russia and Brazil.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 68,351 from 70,187 the day before.

There were 762 people in intensive care on Sunday, down from 775 on Saturday, maintaining a long-running decline. Of those originally infected, 125,176 were declared recovered against 122,810 a day earlier.

The agency said a total of 1.933 million people had been tested for the virus as of Sunday, against 1.900 million on Saturday, out of a population of around 60 million.